Why I killed my step-daughter- Woman

2014-11-01
THE SUN Newspaper

The last has not been heard about why a woman, Aminat Akani al­legedly drowned a four-year-old child, Nofisat, the only daughter of her lover, Moshood Mubo. The 24-year-old suspect told Saturday Sun she killed the baby to teach her lover a lesson. She ac­cused him of getting her pregnant without providing for her and her child, Yussuf.

Born and bred in Ibadan, Oyo State, Ami­nat was said to have lured her lover’s two kids, Nofisat and Lateef, to her house in the Orile area of Lagos when her lover and fa­ther of her only child, Yussuf refused to give her money for the recent sallah celebration. Realising that Nofisat was dead under a cir­cumstance yet to be proved, she disposed of her and proceeded to Lagos Island with La­teef. She was arrested on October 9, 2014 by the police when relatives, who knew that the children were missing, spotted her in the mar­ket while she was about to sell off the second child, Lateef.

Currently detained at the Lagos State Criminal Investigative Department, Panti, Aminat told Saturday Sun a story that is sup­posed to touch the heart. She claimed that she found the baby dead and because she was terrified that the police would call her a mur­derer, she quickly disposed of her in a pool of water close to her house.

Going down memory lane, Aminat said that she initially saw Moshood as a perfect man and the dream of every woman.

“I am a hairdresser. I normally go to Isale Eko to make hair at the hairdressers stand. This was where I met Moshood in 2011. He is the dream of every woman and naturally I was attracted to him, and he was so generous. I do not need to come to the market regularly because he was always providing me enough money. He told me that he is married but as a muslim that he is entitled to marry more than one wife.

“I was happy to have found a man who loves me, that was why I had sex with him without condom. Months later, I got pregnant. Initially, he was not happy about it, but later promised to marry me which he never did till date.

“My parents were furious, but he assured them that he would come and perform the marriage rites as soon as he gets money. It was then I realised that this man who had been spending money on me was not actually rich. He was barely surviving from the pro­ceeds of his shop,” Aminat narrated.

Since the damage (getting pregnant) has been done, Aminat had no choice but to re­sign to her fate and bear the child. “It was too late to abort the child, so I decided to man­age what was on ground. He rented a room for me at Orile. Things got worse as he could hardly give me the normal amount of money that he gave me while we were dating. I even had to start visiting his house, so that his wife, Fumilayo will know that I am also part of the family. This was how I became familiar with two of his children, Lateef and Nofisat. He was living like a big man in a well furnished house while I was isolated and neglected. After the birth of my baby, Yusuf who is two years old, I did everything humanly possible for him to come and pay my bride price so that I can move in and live with him but he refused. I even tried to lure him to have sex with me so that I can get pregnant but he was avoiding me completely. He abandoned us in Orile and hardly sends money for our upkeep.

“I had to work hard to maintain myself and our son, Yusuf. I was so sad because he had spoilt my chances of getting married to another man. On October 3, 2014 which was a day before the Ileya festival, I called him to request for money to celebrate the festival. He told me that he did not have money, even to buy a new cloth for his son, Yusuf. I was so angry and moved over to his house at Church Street later in the evening. Although he saw me with my son, he went ahead to ask me to go home that he does not have a dime for me and my son. It’s his flesh and blood, so why should he abandon us?”, she asked.

Embittered, Aminat devised a means of getting back at her lover, Moshood. “I saw the kids outside and since they knew me, I told them that I was to take them to market to buy Ileya clothes for them. They gladly followed me. I wanted to teach their father a lesson he will never forget in a hurry. I was happy that he was moving up and down and spend­ing money looking for the children. I wanted him to spend that money that he refused to give me. I was still planning to return the kids when on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 I real­ised that Nofisat was no longer breathing.

“I was terrified because I knew that I would be termed a murderer. I had to com­pose myself and throw her dead body into a pool of water in our area. The story should be that she got drowned.”

Grateful to God that she has got rid of the dead child, Aminat decided to also get rid of Lateef who is about 7 years old. “Even if I returned Lateef home, he would tell them that Nofisat was with us and I will be arrested. I decided to move him to CMS and sell him. We were at CMS when one woman recog­nised Lateef and started shouting. I was ar­rested and taken to Adeniji Adele police sta­tion.

“I am sorry, although my plea will not bring back Nofisat. I took them away to teach Moshood a lesson. Why was he taking care of Nofisat and Lateef while my son was suf­fering as a result of neglect? My anger was that if he knew that I was not good enough for him, why did he get me pregnant? I am happy that Moshood is not ready to follow up this case which means that I will soon be released. Fumilayo should learn to forgive me so that God will give her another child to replace the one that is dead. I am sorry”, she pleaded.

Asked if her family was aware of the inci­dent, Aminat said that her father is aware and has been pleading with Moshood to withdraw the case.

She is an ingrate -Husband

Describing the act as that of a woman who is an ingrate, Moshood said he did everything within his means to keep Aminat comfortable when he realised that she was pregnant. He recalled that on the day that his children got missing, no one in the house was given any­thing special as alleged by her. In his words: “A day before Ileya, I returned from work drenched because it rained between 4pm and 5pm. When I returned home, my children welcomed me cheerfully and asked what I bought for them, so I told them that I did not buy anything for them because of the rain but gave them N50 to buy anything. Unknown to us, Aminat was outside. So, when she saw the children returning home and about to en­ter the house, she took them and asked them where I was and they replied that I was in­side. So, she told them that she wanted to buy Ileya gifts for them and that was how they followed her. The children followed her be­cause they know her, my son, Lateef knows her very well. When she took the children, it had rained, so people were not really around to see her with the children. After five min­utes, my wife came in with their clothes and I had also bought their shoes and she asked for her children. I told her that I gave them money to buy biscuits. Immediately, she went out to look for them but returned to say she didn’t see them. We went out to look for them and that was how we searched for them fruitlessly that night.”

He said Aminat called him to inquire if he would not come to her place. He told her about the missing children and she showed concern. He said: “On Saturday, Aminat called me to ask if I would not come to her place so I tearfully told her that I was looking for my children. She was even asking me how it happened, I did not know that she was the culprit. I even told her that my wife was told in the places she went to that it was someone that knows us that ab­ducted the children. But it never crossed my mind that she was the one involved and I told her to take care of Yusuf the son we have to­gether so that “those” who abducted my chil­dren will not come after her son also. But she replied: “Never! No one can kidnap my child,” and that was where we ended the conversation. On Sunday, she called me again to ask if I had seen my children and I told her to help me call her father in Ibadan so that he could help me in any way. Then she told me that PHCN had cut her light because she owed. You know what she was saying was a far cry from what was happening to me, so I just ended the call. She called her father who called me and prayerfully assured me that I would see them.”

Moshood did not rest a bit in searching for his children as he went to several police sta­tions to report the case. “I went to the police station beside Ebute Ero and reported the case after which they collected some information from me. From there I went to Adeniji police station also. I couldn’t go to Lion building, it was already late. As I was coming home I was looking around maybe I would see them be­cause I had them in that area so they know the terrain well. In the midnight I prayed to God. On Saturday, which was Ileya, my wife and I left the house around 5am. We did not have peace throughout the night. We were just pray­ing. I went to Lion building and went to the police station at Oluwole, I went to Festac, and from there, I went to Jankara. I was directed to Mushin from Jankara, which was what I did on Saturday.”

When there was no sign that his children will be found after two days, he decided to take to the streets to tell everyone about his predica­ment and it spread like wildfire. “When I could not take it anymore I called a friend and told him that I will speak out about the missing chil­dren and he supported me. Then I went out to the streets and started shouting that I was look­ing for my children, there was no place in Eko that I did not go to. I was weeping all over even my wife was weeping,” he said.

Not only did he run to the police for help, he also visited the mosques while his wife, Funmi, who is a Christian, visited churches. They even sought help from traditional places which cost him money. He told Saturday Sun that they were told and promised many things from some places they sought help. His words: “I don’t use charms because God answers my prayers. My mother kept assuring me that we will see them. Our parents told us to come to Kwara, so we got there on Friday night. We went to Odo Owa on Saturday and were taken to a Sango shrine. One of the chiefs said that we should not use Sango to look for the children because the abductee also has powers and that if we throw the stone of Sango at them, they will return it. They said there are other things we could use. So, when they said it could return to us, I was like “what is this again?” I told my wife: “Mama Lateef, will it be good for us to be affected.” So, she said she did not want the help again. That was how we chartered a bus to another village, the distance is like Ibadan to Kwara. Those people believe in Osanyin but I believe in God only but you know the situa­tion made my wife succumb to other means. In fact, at a point, Osanyin did not answer again. They said we will spend about thirty some­thing thousand and the amount with me then was not even up to that. People told us all sorts of things, some said, “Ah! They can see the children now; their senses have been collected from them.” We were heartbroken but they said they will fight the battle and so we were settled. You know when one is troubled, you may do or seek things you never thought you could. I had to do it because people had started telling my wife that I was involved. They were telling her that I promised a lady marriage and dumped her. All sorts of information were just flying around, she did not even want to go but you know people were propelling her to. I gave those people N16,000 and decided to withdraw the balance from the ATM and come back on Sunday. When it was 6pm, we dropped my wife in her town and headed for my place so that I could withdraw the money.”

It was when he was running around in Kwara that he received the call that his son had been found with his younger wife and his wife came down Lagos in a speed of light. “Then they called us on that Saturday that they had seen my children since Thursday, so my wife came to Lagos that day. It was my wife’s friend that saw Aminat with my first son. She called the boy and held Aminat, so people gathered and almost mobbed Aminat but she was taken to the police station. She said I was the one that brought the children to her because their mother was busy. The IPO called me and told me what she said. I screamed and debunked her claims. I told them not to release her. When I got to Lagos, I received a call that Aminat ran away from the station and I came down to this place which is her house. When I came in here I saw the damages she did. You can see the plasma TV she broke, she spoilt the AC and packed some things and ran away. I screamed when I saw all these, then her neighbours came out and I told them that she killed my child and spoilt things in the house. The landlady said she saw Aminat pack her things,” he explained.

The rudest shock he received upon his ar­rival at Adeniji police station was his detention which ended when the suspect was found al­most a week after. His words: “When I got to the station, I was arrested and I started fight­ing with them. But the DPO saw us and I ex­plained things to him. The DPO was shocked that a suspect ran away. He told them to lock up the IPO and I. May God reward the DPO because he really took up the issue. The IPO started weeping and I was detained for a week and my wife’s family supported it. They asked me if I know where she may be and I took them to Ibadan in handcuffs. When I was taking them to her father’s place in Ibadan, the IPO re­ceived a call that they have seen her. The blood of the child she killed, I believe, haunted her. When she ran away, the police were always calling her but she was giving them different locations of where she was. I even called her then. She was later rearrested around Oja Oba at CMS. They asked her where she kept the second child and she claimed I came to pick the child on Sunday but that was the day she killed the child. She gave different statements and the police raised an eyebrow over her state­ments. She was not even remorseful about it. When I asked how she escaped, they told me that her baby had defecated and they told her to clean him up outside. They even said they gave her N100 for pampers and that was how she ran away. The police accused me of cow­ering in her presence but when I pounced on her, it was like a lion pouncing on its prey. If you look at her face, you will see injuries. I tor­tured her because they said they don’t torture in Adeniji police station. I was so frustrated that I tore her face. In fact, it was as if I should tear out her intestines but they did not allow me. She was bleeding all over her face, blood was splashing in the DCO’s office even the DCO was startled. This torture made her confess that she picked the children because she wanted to punish me for not buying her son Ileya outfits. She said that the children and their mother did not offend her. She said she was calling me but I was cutting the call and that was why she came to Lagos. She confessed that it was when she saw the children that she abducted them. They asked of where she kept Nofisat and she said she is dead. She said the child was shaking in the middle of the night and died. She con­fessed to have put the child in a water-locked place just beside this house. So, the DPO called Orile’s DPO who came to pick her dead body. I thought they will give me her body but they said they have transferred her case to Panti,” Moshood narrated.

In an attempt to debunk the Aminat’s claim that he neglected or was not taking care of her, Moshood took Saturday Sun to the house he rented for her at No 20 Masallashi street, Alakara, Orile, Lagos. He also took time to explain the circumstances that led to the preg­nancy that got him trapped in a relationship with Aminat. “We met four years ago but she had Yusuf for me about two years ago. When she got pregnant for me, I did not want to ne­glect her. There was a time she and my wife, Funmi met in a place where I said they should be collecting money for food and they fought and injured themselves. I was not even around then because I went for prayers but when I came back and heard about it, I called them and spoke with them. So, when she was pregnant, I decided to live up to my responsibility since I was responsible.

“The main reason I even went out to im­pregnate her was that when my wife was wean­ing my late daughter, Nofisat, I was always at home with her. I wasn’t going to parties. I was always at home with her and my children. She suddenly became rude and I thought that it was because I was staying at home with her that was why she was behaving like that and that was how I started sitting at our base at church street and that was where I saw Aminat. I rented this place for her to avoid trouble in the home. Look at where I rented for her, even the room I live with my first wife is not as big as this, you know houses in Lagos are very ex­pensive. When she put to bed, we celebrated it here. I give her N3,000 every Thursday for feeding because I don’t always have the time to visit her. I stay with my other wife since it’s not far from my place of work,” he said.

Moshood tearfully appealed to the police to release the corpse of his daughter. According to him, the issue has drained his pocket and he cannot afford the money they are asking for. He also called on the public to help him. “I want to appeal to the government. They said I should bring N60,000 for some things before they can give me the dead body. I am begging the gov­ernment to release her so that we can bury her. I am really broke, my business has been suf­fering since this happened. People are saying that I planned with her to sell the children. This issue has reached London. I have lost so much and I want the public to help me. My girl has been in the mortuary for about two weeks now. People even advised me to leave her there since that will not bring her back,” he said.

He also pleaded with his wife to see this as a hurdle they should cross together and come back home. “I also want to beg my wife and her family to help me return my wife and my two sons because they have taken them from me since this happened. The issue has brewed fight between my family and hers. I believe God has destined this to happen and He wants us to al­ways give thanks. I want her to see this as a test for our marriage. Please, I want her to return home with our children because we have been married for 15 years. Who can I marry now? Is it not one that did this to me? I want people to help me with prayers and other ways they can. Look at the place I rented for a woman that has a child for me. Even when I met her, I did not live with my wife for about a year. I did not marry her legally but I went to see her father when she was pregnant,” he said still in tears.

When further asked if he could forgive Aminat, Moshood said: “I have forgiven her, it is left for her to sort herself out with God al­mighty. It was God that allowed my daughter to die, I have no right to question that,” he said.

Confirming the incident, Lagos State police command spokesman, DSP Kenneth Nwosu said that the suspect will be charged to court at the end of investigation.